Continental Congressman. A Quaker, Smith was educated by private tutors and in Quaker schools. He then studied law, became an attorney in 1762, and practiced in Philadelphia and Burlington. Smith served as Burlington County Clerk beginning in 1762, and served in the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1776, resigning to succeed his deceased brother Samuel as New Jersey State Treasurer. Smith resigned as Treasurer in 1777 and resumed practicing law. He moved to Laurens, New York in 1790, where had built a large estate, Smith Hall, on Lake Otsego. Smith relocated to Philadelphia in 1799. He became ill while touring the southern United States, and died in Natchez, where he was buried. Smith kept a diary while he was a Congressman, which continues to serve as a valuable first hand account of the proceedings of the Continental Congress. (bio by: Bill McKern)